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Lithium to lithium, manganese to manganese

Lithium to lithium, manganese to manganese

In the future, Volkswagen will offer e-mobility for all – and will assume overall responsibility: from the concepts for the vehicles, through production, sales and operations on to recycling. For this reason, a pilot plant for battery recycling is currently being set up at Salzgitter factory, south-west of Braunschweig, Germany.

The vehicle battery consists of a large number of battery cells. They fill almost the entire vehicle floor area between the axles

Until recently, batteries were regarded as hazardous waste. They can actually serve as valuable sources of raw materials. That’s why the engineers of the component department are working on a recycling concept for batteries. The aim: to return raw materials to the manufacturing process chain.

“For ten years now, we have been researching how we can recuperate raw materials. These include, above all, cobalt, lithium, manganese, and nickel” explains Thomas Tiedje, Head of Technical Planning. Another reason why multiple use of these four raw materials in particular is so important and useful is that their extraction and use is crucial for a company’s carbon footprint.

“We already have sustainable battery expertise in the Group and are developing this further,” says Tiedje. For months now, the management and workforce at the components plant in Braunschweig have been preparing for the high-voltage era. The first “power plants” for the I.D. electric car family are to leave the plant at the end of 2019.

These batteries will then be delivered to the assembly plants – mainly to Zwickau at the start. This is where production of the I.D. will also kick off at the end of 2019. Other sites and vehicles for the electric era, such as the SUV I.D. CROZZ, the sedan I.D. VIZZION and the lifestyle minivan I.D. BUZZ, will later be supplied with batteries from Braunschweig.

Premiere in Salzgitter, northern Germany

In parallel, Volkswagen Group Components is also building a pilot plant for battery cell production at its plant in Salzgitter, together with the “Center of Excellence” for batteries. In 2020, a pilot recycling plant will be set up in Salzgitter. Batteries can be recycled here as early as 2020 – initially 1,200 tons per year. This corresponds to 3,000 vehicle batteries. A further increase in capacity is envisaged for subsequent years. However, large quantities of battery returns are not expected until the end of the 2020s in any case. That is when the first large proportion of e-vehicles (which will be sold in greater volumes starting in 2020) will have reached the end of their working life.

What happens during battery recycling?

First, the returns will be analyzed. After that, there are two paths: either the battery is given a so-called “second life” or it is recycled.

One possible second life for batteries is as a component for flexible charging stations. These are quick charging stations which can be operated autonomously, for example at festivals or large-scale events. They work according to the principle of a power bank, which is familiar to most people from cell phones. Alternatively, the quick charging stations are equipped with power connections and thus provide e-drivers with a quick charging option on long trips along freeways and national highways. Batteries in a “second life” are ideally suited to all such applications.

Every battery is optimally utilized

Batteries that are not given a second life will be recycled by the staff in Salzgitter. In this process, the individual battery parts will first be shredded, then the material will be dried and sieved, allowing the employees to extract the so-called “black powder.” This contains the valuable raw materials of cobalt, lithium, manganese, and nickel. These materials then just have to be separated individually, after which they are available again for the production of new batteries.

Valuable materials are recovered

The plant in Salzgitter starts as a pilot project, because the disposal and procurement of raw materials is always very expensive. The company would have to place large investments, both for procurement and for disposal of the raw materials. “So we prefer to recycle it ourselves and qualify our employees to do this, especially since we expect large batch sizes in the future,” says Thomas Tiedje.

The plant in Salzgitter is to be followed in the next few years by further decentralized recycling plants. Not only will they ensure a clean environment, they will also be interesting for economic reasons.

In the long term, a very ambitious goal has been set up: to recycle 97 percent of all raw materials. Today, it is 53 percent, and the plant in Salzgitter will bring this figure up to 72 percent. There is still some way to go before reaching the target of 97 percent. Even if a lot of small steps are necessary, it all serves an overarching agenda: Volkswagen is doing everything it can to make e-mobility sustainable.

The specified fuel consumption and emission data have been determined according to the measurement procedures prescribed by law. Since 1st September 2017, certain new vehicles are already being type-approved according to the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), a more realistic test procedure for measuring fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Starting on September 1st 2018, the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) will be replaced by the WLTP in stages. Owing to the more realistic test conditions, the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions measured according to the WLTP will, in many cases, be higher than those measured according to the NEDC. For further information on the differences between the WLTP and NEDC, please visit www.volkswagen.de/wltp.

We are currently still required by law to state the NEDC figures. In the case of new vehicles which have been type-approved according to the WLTP, the NEDC figures are derived from the WLTP data. It is possible to specify the WLTP figures voluntarily in addition until such time as this is required by law. In cases where the NEDC figures are specified as value ranges, these do not refer to a particular individual vehicle and do not constitute part of the sales offering. They are intended exclusively as a means of comparison between different vehicle types. Additional equipment and accessories (e.g. add-on parts, different tyre formats, etc.) may change the relevant vehicle parameters, such as weight, rolling resistance and aerodynamics, and, in conjunction with weather and traffic conditions and individual driving style, may affect fuel consumption, electrical power consumption, CO2 emissions and the performance figures for the vehicle.

Further information on official fuel consumption figures and the official specific CO2 emissions of new passenger cars can be found in the “Guide on the fuel economy, CO2 emissions and power consumption of new passenger car models”, which is available free of charge at all sales dealerships and from DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, D-73760 Ostfildern, Germany and at www.dat.de.